Method and apparatus for predicting object properties using similarity based information retrieval and modeling

Computer apparatus for the dynamic indexing of spectral data, the spectral data being of a spectral database tree having a root node, the computer apparatus comprising search manager apparatus, the search manager apparatus comprising a processor, memory associated with the processor and an output device, the computer apparatus comprising

• a memory for storing the spectral data of the spectral database, the spectral data being represented by a attribute vector having a plurality of M dimensions, where M is at least three;
• the processor for defining a root node of the spectral database tree and a test for the root node responsive to a query received at the processor search manager apparatus, the query related to an object, the test defining an indexing surface in a three dimensional sub-space for separating the spectral data into at least two clusters of spectral data;
• the processor for applying a test for another node of the spectral database tree, the processor outputting reference evidence data responsive to the query via the output device, the query for one of a location, a manufacturer and an event related to the query object, the query object being a target object.

A computer-implemented method of generating an evidence tree of spectral data, the method implemented on processor search manager apparatus comprising a processor and memory, the method using a model comprising:

• creating a display showing a pathway of linkages between a target object comprising a symbol and a second object and a third object, the target object, the second object and the third object being different from one another, the target object linked to the second object and the second object linked to the third object, each link represented by one of a curved line and a line, the pathway comprising a similarity value, a speculation level and a model-based rank, each of the similarity value, the speculation value and the model-based rank being stored in the memory for the pathway, the rank being an ordinal value for balancing the similarity with the speculation level;
• and
• the dynamic indexing for predicting a property of the target object using the model, the model comprising a property of the third object.